The region is Britain's worst hit-area outside London for prank fire call-outs, with a cost of more than é4m.

'Mindless'

Call handlers are trained to ask questions designed to weed out hoaxers, but emergency services are still called out to fake reports. And 999 bosses say that in genuine emergency situations, where every second counts, precious time wasted travelling to bogus jobs could be costing lives.

Assistant county fire officer Kieron Nolan said: "Making a hoax call at any time is a mindless act and, perhaps more importantly, could put lives at risk."

Police get the most time-waster calls with 26,198 recorded last year. The fire service has sent crews out to 2,584 bogus jobs since April and call handlers detected a further 2,119 hoaxes.

Waste

Paramedics also fell victim to bogus calls on more than 3,000 occasions.

A police spokesman said: "Such calls waste valuable resources and prevent attendance at genuine incidents where people's lives may be at risk. The 999 number should only be used in an emergency, where there is an immediate threat to life or property."

The research, compiled for Hoax Callers Awareness Week, shows that calls tend to go up in the school holidays.

Bogus calls also put the lives of emergency service workers at risk. In 1998, a firefighter nearly lost his leg when the fire engine crashed on the way to what turned out to be a hoax and, in 2002, firefighters from Wythenshawe were injured in an accident after a trick call.

According to research by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, every hoax call made to the fire service costs around é1,700, and for an ambulance the average cost of a call-out is around é124.

Anyone convicted of making a hoax call could face a fine of up to é5,000 or up to six months in jail.